The Years Prior To 1845
Chapter II
Some of the earliest and
strongest Baptist influence in Louisiana came from the churches of the
northwestern area of South Carolina.
One preacher who had a profound influence in southwestern Mississippi and
the Florida parishes was a man by the name of Joseph Willis.
The influence of churches he
initiated in that area soon began to spread toward the Ft.
Miro (Monroe) area and then into the rest of North Louisiana. 1
Little is known for sure about the
details of his birth and early life, though it is an accepted fact Willis was of
mixed white, black and probably
Indian blood.
Many so-called definitive sources give different
dates for his birth ranging from
1748 to 1770.3,
4,
5 What is known about
him is that he came to Mississippi
from Main Saluda River Church in South Carolina--the
same church which supplied such pioneer pastors as
Abraham Hargess, Isaiah Stephens and James Fowler. 6
Willis
entered the south Mississippi area approximately
1800 and began to preach, soon producing both converts to the Baptist beliefs he professed and a
problem. 7 Brother Willis
at that time had not been ordained and was not permitted to
baptize followers. For a time he
circumvented this problem by the willing
assistance of a friend who was an ordained
Methodist minister. 8 This odd arrangement
served for several years, though he
continued to seek a church to ordain him so
that he might baptize the converts himself.
He searched in vain for an obliging
congregation, but was rebuffed, ostensibly
because of his lack of education and mixed blood. Finally,
he requested ordination from the Mississippi
Association (no Louisiana Association existed at this time)
and was ordained by Moses Hadley and Lawrence Scarborough in 1812.9
Willis
influence on the growth of the Baptists as a
denomination in Louisiana certainly was enormous, but others,
including Moses Hadley, Lawrence Scarborough, Bailey Chaney,
Ezra Courtney, Haywood Alford, Thomas Meredith, Henry Humble
and many others quickly followed. 10
Jacob Hickman (the first Baptist preacher
in North Louisiana) settled in what is now
Morehouse parish around 1810 at the John Coulter and William
Thomas settlements near Bastrop. 11 Soon other settlers,
generally traveling as large family groups, fathers and
mothers, sons and daughters, in-laws and cousins, appeared. Two of these groups, the
Colvin's and
the Murrells, are of especial importance
to Homer Baptist Church.
Daniel and Susan Huey
Colvin of Chester County, South Carolina
came to the area now known as Vienna in Lincoln
parish in 1812. Most of these
pioneers were members of Woodward Baptist
Church and most of the rest were Baptists of
other churches. 12 Tradition among
those of the Colvin clan insist a Baptist
church was immediately started in the area,
but no record of such a church exists.
The first Baptist church of record
in that area was begun in a community known
as Upper Pine Hills, now in the vicinity of one of the old
Colvin cemeteries. 13 James and
Elizabeth Purser Brinson, Alexander
Nelson, James Whitsun and their wives, Arthur
McFarland and his wife Hollen (daughter of the Brinson's),
Christopher Koonce and his wife Mary (another daughter of the Brinson's) settled in the Pine Hills
area and organized the church there in
1821.14 The Brinson, Koonce and McFarland
families are of importance to the present members of First
Baptist Church of Homer even today since direct descendants,
including Beatrice Goss, are still members of our church.
A
more sobering fact is one that seems impossible to
church members in this day and age.
One pioneer had lived to suffer for his
faith in a way few persons ever must.
James Brinson had been publicly whipped
and imprisoned for the crime of preaching
the gospel. He, along with several other
Baptists in North Carolina, were guilty of the crime of
starting Baptist churches in the latter part of the eighteenth
century. It is interesting to note
that after Brinson was released from
prison, he followed the lead of the Apostle Paul
and established one church after another.
He was a founder of the New Bern
Baptist church (second oldest in North Carolina),
Slocum's Creek Baptist Church, and Goose Creek Baptist Church
before traveling to Louisiana. 15
Though
Upper Pine Hills Church was small in size (fifty
or so) it was responsible for the organization of many
churches in the North Louisiana area.
James Brinson and John Impson
traveled many miles through what was then wilderness to
serve as missionaries to neighboring settlements.
Roads were few and a trail which
eventually became Old Wire Road provided
access from the Collinsville area to settlements around.
One of the earliest successes of
their missionary efforts came at the
invitation of another early settler--John Murrell, Sr.
John and Margaret Sasser
Murrell were Baptists and had previously
requested visits from Baptist ministers as far away
as Ft. Miro near Monroe. Whether or
not other preachers had been able to make
the trip to the tiny community of Flat Lick
(on Dutchtown Road between present day Homer and Minden) is
unknown, but in 1823, James Brinson and John Impson traveled
from the Vienna area to hold services in Murrell's home.
16
At that time the church of Black
Lake was organized and numbered the
Murrells, the Newitt Drew family and several others as
members. The new mission proved
successful, at least for a while, and
Black Lake Church was welcomed in the Louisiana
Association. 17
The next year another
church a few miles southeast of Gibsland
was organized by Brinson and his family and called
Providence. This church remained
closely allied with the Pine Hills church
and much of the early membership was transferred
from that church.
At this point, despite
extensive search, little can be said for
certain regarding the early history of Homer Baptist
Church, but evidence strongly indicates these three churches--Pine Hills,
Black Lake and Providence--provided the nucleus of
the early membership of Ebenezer Baptist Church.
If so, the formation of our church
was the indirect outcome of a hotly
disputed scandal of the 1830's.
Lawrence
Scarborough, a well-known preacher from
Mississippi, became pastor of Pine Hills church in 1827 and
from all accounts was very popular with his congregation. Soon, however, unwelcome news from
his home church in Mississippi came to the
area. The Louisiana Association
discovered he had left his wife in Mississippi, eloped with
and later, after receiving a divorce, married a younger woman. Accordingly, the Louisiana
Association refused to grant a letter of
dismission to Pine Hills church to join a new
association until that church removed him as pastor and
excluded him from membership. The
scandal was further complicated by the
fact Scarborough had come under the
influence of Chillingworth and Campbell and had begun to teach
the necessity of baptism as a requisite to salvation. 18,
19,
20
This scandal tore Pine Hills church
apart in 1830 and greatly hurt the
Providence church. The founders of the two churches,
including James Brinson and his family, left
Providence to move to the Downsville area so that they might
live with family and remove themselves from the squabble.
The largest portion of Pine Hills
church voted to expel Scarborough and went
on to become one of four churches (along
with the majority of Black Lake church, Providence and Bayou
Bartholomew) to organize Concord Association on November 3,
1832. Some of the members of Pine
Hills church along with a portion of Black
Lake's congregation (including John Murrell,
Sr.'s family) elected to follow Scarborough and his teachings.
Investigation
of Scarborough's marital status satisfied this
body and a new church was formed near John Murrell's home. 21,
22,
23 This became the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) at
Union Grove. Eventually, most of
the early founders of this church left and
returned to a Baptist church. The date for
this is not certain, but appears to be prior to 1840.
It is certainly possible this tiny
remnant eventually became Ebenezer Church,
though this is speculation.
Facts which support this
theory include the growing population of
the area around Allen's settlement near Homer,
including more potential Baptists. 24 These people would be more
interested in a church closer than the now Minden based church
of Black Lake. Additionally, John
Murrell Sr.'s great granddaughter, Bessie
Murrell Gray and her mother, Eliza
Bridgeman Murrell, stated Homer Baptist Church was organized
in the home of John Murrell, Sr. 25,
26 John Murrell's family
must have been split on the religion question, because his son
Isaac became a supporter of the Methodist church in Minden and
Isaac's sister Martha remained a supporter of the Disciples of
Christ. 27 Others in the
family were supporters of the Baptist
church while another branch joined the Presbyterian church. 28
Footnotes:
Chapter II.
The Years Prior To 1845
1. Greene,
p. 52.
2. Paxton, p. 140.
3. Durham, John Pinckney and John S.
Ramond. Baptist Builders in Louisiana, p.
20.
4. Greene, p. 52.
5. Sweet, p. 109.
6. Ibid., p. 110.
7. Paxton, p. 141
8. Greene, p. 54. 9.
Ibid., p. 55.
10. King, Joe M. A History of
South Carolina Baptists, p. 343.
11. Greene, p. 112.
12. Colvin, Ethelle and Baker.
Colvin and Allied Families, p. 4.
13. Greene, p. 113.
14. Averitte, "The History of Lower Pine Hills of Downsville, Louisiana, p. 2.
15. Cooper, E. J. "The
Brinson Family," p. 16.
16. Gould, Allena Robinson.
John Murrell (1784-1849) Pioneer of Claiborne Parish, Louisiana and Relating Family, p. 20.
17. Paxton, p. 144. 18.
Harris, D. W. and B. M. Hulse. The History
of Claiborne Parish, p. 142.
19. Paxton, p. 152, 180.
20. Greene, p. 117.
21. Sweet, p.
142.
22. Gould, p.
23.
23. Historic
Claiborne, 1969.
24. Hardin,
James Fair. Northwestern Louisiana:
A History of the
Watershed of the Red River, p. 157.
25. Gould, p.
43.
26. Ola Allen interview.
27. Gould, p. 28.
28. Ola Allen intervies
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